Stuart Bailey wrote:- Meanwhile in a frantic effort to show its civic responsibilty the HEIC put out its end of year report showing its paying over £22,000,000 per month tax to HM Revenue. The HEIC also paid a final end of year dividend of £90,000,000 and paid a bonus to its troops and workers. Plus donated money to Charity inc £500,000 to the Tory Party. Oddly even with all of these efforts the Opium Corporation & Globel are on the Prestige list but the HEIC is not:(

I think I've worked it out...just like any country calling itself a "democratic republic" is a dictatorship, any company calling itself "honourable" clearly isn't...a quick rename is required

The Nipponese Search for Godzilly is now underway in The mountains of the Chin region.

Why are the natives so hostile, could it be they worship Godzilla as a diety?

Nippons Silk industry continues to grow, new Store open in London, unfortuntely went unreported , obviously the knotted hankerchief & String vest line for the modern British working man may need a rethink.

Dec 1860 Britannic Times has shown up and for non scabble players here are the highlights:

- Nippon Invasion of Chin has started with the Nippon Navy dropping the Army on a mountainous coast without a port in winter. Which is normally a good way to drown a lot of troops or at least get them very wet and upset about life. However in the event the landings went fairly well.

- Nippon military has clearly been busy reading Chin Military classics because when the 49 Regiment found itself on "death ground" and no option but to fight off three times their number of spear carrying locals or drown they fought on won Nippons first foothold on mainland Chin.

- The Korean Royal Army generals also seem to be followers of the Classic's and have cunningly placed their troops between a deep river full of Russian Warships and the Army of Siberia. With no option but to fight or die the traditional theory says the Korean troops will now fight like Hero's and sweep the Rossian Army away! The Russian Barbarians however seem totally unaware that they have been totally out outclassed in mastery of the Classic Texts by Lord Kalu and Queen Min and still have a foolish faith in the power of the Czar, Holy Mother Russia and their massed artillery and machine guns.

- Oddly the Chin themselves seem to be having doubts about some of their traditional military theory in the face of the Nippon Invasion and British threats and Wu-fu-ching, Mouthpiece of the Holder of the Mandate of Heaven has responded to the Nippon Invasion by offering the invaders an alliance against the British provided Nippon pays the Chin a tribute of 200 batches of Modern Rifles and 20 batches of Modern Artillery. A offer which may get support in parts of Nippon Society concerned about British Cultural pollution - such as deep fried seafood and Haggis being introduced by the Scots and a English Hong setting up its HQ in a Osaka brothel.

- Dr Fu-Manchu fresh from the murder of Flashman and the destruction of the German brewery in Tsing-Tao has responded in a more traditional fashion with threats that anyone who troubles Chin will face sabotage, bandit problems, illness an strikes. In incidents which may or may not be related to Dr Fu-Manchu words......Russian diplomatic staff have been guided into a bog and got ill, British telegraphs and trade caravans in India & North America have been attacked and British Railway workers have refused to transport dangerous looking weapons to the Navy.

Shooting English railway workers is probably not on but in Dayton Cowboys who held up Stage Coaches and British Merchants were hunted down by British Cavalry and shot out of land without trial. Seems the tactics of Skinners Horse is spreading!

- The other reason why Nippon attempts to market silk unmentionables in England did not get a mention is that the Press is taken up with a huge multi million pound tax scandal. Seems that tax payments from the tea cartel to the treasury are being diverted......probably using the Albion Bank as a way of getting the money out of the country.

So far the courts have said that if the tax money is diverted before being paid the Tea Cartel will still have to pay the outstanding tax but if the money is diverted after the treasury gets it the Government will have to bear the costs. They have yet to say if the lost money can be reclaim as damages from the Albion bank due to its reckless and perhaps reckless actions.

- In other news the Germans have finally blown a breach in the walls of Casablanca. But its not clear if the Naval blockade of this port is still in place or the effect on Germanic operations due the the desertion of the Governor of Kasbah (and ex Nun) by airship which has thrown the province into anarchy.

So in brief the Germans and Nippon continue on a path of bungling and conquest. The British are the strongest grouping but are at daggers drawn with themselves. While the Russians seem in place for either a major defeat or a major Victory in Chin. All of which would seem to give a new French player major opportunities or a USA player major problems......think every problem US President's had in the C19 from the CSA to the Ohio crisis and Indian problems plus added tenticles and its currently in your in box. The only one missing is the French intervention to put a Hapsburg on the Throne of Mexico but at the rate its going replace the Legion with happy Hymn singing Cossacks.